IMELDA ALMQVIST'S FOREST SCHOOL
Seiðmaðr & Seiðkona advanced program in Sweden
(1 hour south of Stockholm)
The current cohort will cover two advanced modules in 2026, open only to people who have completed this program.
My plan is to teach both the Seiðr Introduction Course and a Forest Witch or Reclaiming The Hag art retreat here in 2027.
Beyond that point I may well teach modules of this training as stand-alone courses, but I will no longer commit to teaching 3 or 4-year programs, for reasons of entering my Hag Years and freeing up time for other passions and different way of life. I don't think I will ever retire - but I will no longer work full time.
Imelda Almqvist, 20 October 2025
TESTIMONIALS RECEIVED FOR SEIDR CLASSES AND MY 3-YEAR SEIDKONA & SEIDMADR PROGRAM IN SWEDEN
WOW!
Working deeper with the runes - each one revealing more and more about itself and how each is linked with another
The Norns in their whirling well of water stepping forward with their knowledge
My mind was blown with Imelda's story of the runes- it just hit me in heart deep within me it made so much sense like a coming home. I was truly wowed by it
My favourite moment? Too many to mention
Working alone, in pairs, in ceremony a deeply immersive experience diving deep into this well of knowledge
Don't hesitate jump into that well!
-Lyn Hill, UK
TESTIMONIALS RECEIVED FOR SEIDR CLASSES
Not for the faint of soul. This program has an intensity that starts as a gentle trickle and ends as a tsunami of love wisdom passion and a spiritual awakening unlike anything else I have experienced. A combination of “theory” and experiential adventure, group discussion and individual exploration. Imelda brings her life and love of the Northern Way into every drop of content. Hail aesir och asynjur.
- Kelly Wyrd, Canada
From the moment we entered the sacred forest and land at True North in Sweden, we were called into our ancestral Norse heritage. The two-year seidr program has expansively grown my skill sets and knowledge of this ancient Northern European tradition. This is a course of living knowledge and unfolding, a way of life, as we embrace the subject matter deeply. Imelda brings a deep knowledge of the topic from her own scholarship and research but more importantly from her own experiences of actively living the knowledge for the past 20+ years. I highly recommend this course if you have an interest and calling to Seidr and Northern traditions.
-Valarie Budayr, US
IMELDA ALMQVIST'S FOREST SCHOOL
General Introduction
I was born in the Netherlands but, since I was about 14 years old, I have dreamed of living in Scandinavia, in a place where the Forest meets the Sea; where you catch glimpses of trolls and elves going about their business. A place where rare wild flowers grow, fly agaric mushrooms flourish and the language of plants remains a native tongue. In 2016 the dream came true!
My school is in a remote location on the shore of the Baltic Sea. There is a lake on the doorstep and students often swim there on their lunchbreak.
For any serious shamanic teacher access to land where students can work completely undisturbed is a priority concern. Sweden operates a law called Allemansrätten (freely translated as The Public Right of Access or Right to Roam), giving people the right to walk and even camp on land everywhere. (There are some rules regarding private dwellings and grazing animals etc., which I always explain when I open a class).
There are many Bronze Age sites in the immediate surroundings: grave mounds, rune stones, ship burial sites and standing stones, and so forth. Uppsa Kulle is right on the doorstep (see the two pictures in the header just above, middle + far right!)
A one-week SeidrNorse Shamanism Introduction Course has been offered once a year since 2014. In May 2016 the people who participated in that course made a strong request for a 2-year practitioner training in Seidr and Northern Tradition studies, allowing people to work (with competence and confidence) in all areas of shamanic practice, within an indigenous Northern European tradition. In other words: a professional training in all aspects of working as a seiðmaðr or seiðkona.
This course was my response to that request!
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING IN BECOMING A Seiðmadr or Seiðkona
This professional training, in Seiðr and Old Norse Traditions, was originally visioned as a 2-year program, which in reality became a 4-year program for the first cohort, due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. My students felt that this was a good thing, because it gave people plenty of integration time and we also packed in 2 years' worth of webinars, covering deepening material.
The overall consensus, from my first cohort of students, was that the program is “epic and life-changing” (great to hear!) but I am always making improvements.
I currently operate 4 tiers:
- Beginners Level (Seiðr Introduction Classes)
- Intermediate Level (Open to people who have completed the Seiðr Introduction Course and demonstrated a strong commitment to the Norse gods and an ability to work with the runes. (Open to returning graduates as well as people who have completed the Introduction Course)
- Advanced Level (For people who have completed modules #1- 5)
- Enrichment Level
Below is a list of all modules:
#1 The Vitki or Rune Magician
#2 The Norns and Changing the Weave
#3 The Norse Anatomy of Soul
#4 The Nine Maidens of Lyfjaberg (Healing work Old Norse Tradition style)
#5 The Wild Hunt and working with the Norse Psycho Pomps
#6 Old Norse Tradition ancestral and intergenerational healing work, where we dive deeply into our relationship with the Disir and Alfar, the fylgja and kinfylgja and the Norse conceptualisation of Kinship)
#7 Likfassna or "Gastkramad", spirit release (or de-possession) work taught from an Old Norse perspective, in accordance with Old Norse cosmology.
#8 The Nine Wave Maidens
(As nine is the most sacred number in the Old Norse Tradition, there ought to be a 9th module right? But it doesn't exist yet!)
Here are some videos made for my current students, introducing the Runes, Rune Stones, Scandinavian Petroglyphs and Sitting Out on a Grave Mound (Utiseta) - hope you find them both educational and enjoyable! Imelda
CULTURAL HERITAGE ON OUR DOORSTEP!
Bronze Age sites
In OUR immediate surroundings there are many Bronze Age sites. grave mounds, rune stones, ship burial sites and standing stones positively "litter the landscape"!
The King's Grave Mound of Uppsa Kulle is right on the doorstep, just outside Tystberga! There are many rune stones in the vicinity as well.
Petroglyphs
Släbro Hälristningar
These carvings are quite different in appearance from many other petroglyphs found in Sweden. Some are shaped like cups (indents) where it is believed offerings were made to the spirits and gods. They were discovered relatively recently (in 1984). Another hypothesis is that they might represent star constellations - this resonates with guidance I myself have received, sitting out there!
Area of outstanding natural beauty
My Forest School is "Where The Wild Things Are"!
The local wildlife is abundant. You will encounter deer daily and also moose, badgers, wild boar etc. Sea eagles are often spotted flying overhead.
My first cohort did not only encounter a wolf and a lynx but one student even met three juvenile (grizzly) bears right behind our house!
What is Seiðr?
Seidr is a set of ancient Norse magical practices. Traditionally speaking those include the following ,methods and paths:
- Seidr used for Divination & Changing the Weave
- The Thirst for Knowledge & Wisdom Competitions
- Making power objects, sacred art and other forms of magical crafting
- "Blot and Blod" (Offerings and Blood)
Ceremony, ritual, offerings, Wheel of the Year
- Galder - magical songs, incantations and spells
- Uteseita: sitting out (not unlike Native American concept of a vision quest)
- Shapeshifting and Berserking
